Atria makes a comeback, confirmed will be opening on 28 May 2015

The neighbourhood of Damansara Jaya is ready to welcome back its famed landmark. Atria Shopping Gallery is finally "re-opening" its brand new doors on 28 May 2015.

Back in 1982, a foundation stone was laid in the heart of a typical shopoffice-dominated commercial centre in Damansara Jaya, for what was later known as the The Atria Shopping Centre (The Atria).

The complex, which had been originally planned to house a cinema, commenced operations with the Japanese Kimisawa and French Printemps departmental stores.

During the mid 1980s, traffic jams were common in Damansara Jaya, especially when both the Japanese and French stores had sales promotions. It was the place that everyone wants to be seen at.

The Piccadilly discotheque located inside the Atria was a magnet for teenagers and students. The disco was famed for its afternoon tea dances and received as much attention for the frequent police raids on the outlet.

Eventually all three outlets closed and Lion Group took over the complex. The former Kimisawa space became Parkson Grand and Parkson Supermarket on the ground floor whereas the Printemps block became The Atria Shopping Centre.

During the 1990s, The Atria remained a popular neighbourhood mall despite newer and larger malls were established nearby. It stood alongside The Mall in Kuala Lumpur, Hankyu Jaya in Bangsar and Jaya Supermarket.

Many of us would remember going there for KFC, Tamiya toy cars, Playstation, or buying the latest computer games from a CD shop, or having family dinners at Esquire Kitchen. Some would remember buying their first Bata shoes here, making a wish at the entrance pond, or buying kaya balls right in front of the supermarket.

In the early 2000s, the complex was sold to Lien Hoe Corporation Berhad and quickly the Parkson supermarket became Tops Supermarket (under Netherlands' Royal Ahold).

In 2005, Tops Supermarket exited Malaysia (and later whole of Asia) and the supermarket became Giant Supermarket while Parkson Grand relocated to 1 Utama. Later, Popular Bookstore decided to end its presence in The Atria.

In March 2007, Lien Hoe Corporation sold the entire shopping complex to OSK Property Holdings Berhad.

Following several protests from nearby residents for several years, the new owners finally decided to redevelop the entire complex right from ground zero into a 5-storey lifestyle retail mall plus 2 basement levels.

OSK Property added two blocks of 16-storey towers above the retail floors. The towers contain 392 units of small office flexible office suites known as Atria SOFO Suites. The units were fully sold within a day of launch in November 2011.

By the last few weeks of December 2011, The Atria had completely gone down. No one had expected the phenomenon it became, from its humble beginnings to become one of Malaysia's premier neighbourhood mall for more than a decade.

Today, Atria has been rebuilt. Transformed into a glass-cladded contemporary architecture and hosting a variety of modern amenities, the new Atria is to be known from now onwards as Atria Shopping Gallery.

With much awaited excitements, the Atria Shopping Gallery will open (soft-opening) to its sleek incarnation on 28 May 2015. A unique roof garden alfresco will be its major attraction. The mall has a net lettable area of 450,000 sq ft.

The all-new-mall will host mini anchor tenants such as Village Grocer, CHi Fitness and Taste Enclave, besides a large variety of food and beverage outlets and convenience outlets.

Dynasty Dragon Chinese Restaurant, which was formerly located in SStwo Mall in SS2, Petaling Jaya, will be occupying 25,000 sq ft here. The restaurant will offer a much-needed wedding banquet option for the surrounding residents.

Next, one of UK's largest clothing retailer, will be expanding its Malaysian presence in the Atria Shopping Gallery. Competitor Marks & Spencer will not have a presence in this mall. Other British-known brands in this mall will be Hamleys toys store and SportsDirect.com.

Public listed Jerasia Capital Berhad will be leasing a huge portion of fashion-related spaces for brands under its stable. There are MANGO, MANGO Man, Violeta by MANGO, TRIO by Jerasia and Terranova.

The MANGO store here will be the largest store in Malaysia, occupying almost 10,000 sq ft. The store will offer the latest collections from Europe.

OSK Property, the owner and developer, is targeting 15,000 visitors per weekday and 30,000 visitors per day on the weekends.

Several measures have been taken by OSK Property to address traffic congestion issues. It has improved the traffic flow of the surrounding commercial shops to one way, doubling the width of secondary roads and installed three new traffic lights and upgraded the older ones.

There will be 5 drop-off and pick-up points, whereby one of them is elevated above road level aimed at dispersing traffic. Some 1,830 parking bays will be provided, and this is three times more than the number of bays offered by the former Atria.

As we know, Atria Shopping Gallery is OSK Property's first flagship shopping mall. If everything goes well, OSK Property is surely looking to replicate its success of managing this shopping centre in its upcoming development called Atria Shopping Gallery at You City in Cheras (developed by sister company PJ Development Holdings Berhad).